Serious Sam's own Versus modes are mostly things that are already done to the death and to much better degrees by other games. So let's try something that hasn't been done in a long time; Vehicular Combat, combat with vehicles.

Right now, we'll be using Vehicular Deathmatch (vDM), Vehicular Capture the Flag (vCTF), and SS2's Hover Fighter and Plasma Turret as the base format for this mode. The goal of the mode is to ensure vehicle-on-vehicle combat between players.

Vehicular Deathmatch
Simple as it sounds. Each player spawns in a Hover Fighter. Kill.

Vehicular Capture the Flag
The real meat. Now, imagine (you can use this if you lack imagination).

There's 2 bases at opposite ends of the map, entrenched in terrains and guarded by 4 Plasma Turrets at the front. The middle of the map is a raised highway from one base to the other and a canal at the sides which connects to the other side through a passage beneath the highway. The highway is a wide platform for open vehicle combat with clear line of sight and a lot of space to move around in; it is the best choice if you want to get to the both bases fast or just want to engage in wide open vehicle battles. The canals on the other hand are good for flanking; they are narrower and have small hills and boulders that block sightline and takes longer to navigate to the opponent's base; it is the best choice if you are escaping with the flag, want to sneak around the big battle on the highway, or just want to play cat and mouse with the enemy. A small supply depot rests directly in the center of the map, beneath the highway and between the canals.

The players spawn at their own bases that houses 8 Hover Fighters and respawns them infinitely every 10 seconds regardless of the amount of active vehicles; this means that players will race each other to the vehicles but won't make them feel that they should go on-foot because they were too slow on the initial rush and gave up on waiting for the respawn. Then, both teams will engage head-on at the middle of the map; the majority as the bulk on the highway with the minority as flankers in the canals. The unfortunate ones who lost their vehicles can catch another ride in the supply depot that is located in the passage between the canals, though they need to act fast for there enemies doing the same and also because the 4 Hover Fighters residing there will only respawn once a minute. The victors on the road will arrive at the entrance of the enemy base and meet resistance in the form of the respawned enemy team and the Plasma Turrets that's been bombarding them from a distance like an artillery strike. Luckily for them, there's a blind spot beneath the turrets so the survivors rushed there and sneaked along the entrance's wall to get past the gates and into the base. While this is where the enemy vehicle are concentrated at the most, they still have to get off their vehicles because the flag can only be obtained, returned, and captured on-foot. Whoever made it out of the flag room alive quickly got back into their Hover Fighters and hightailed out of the enemy base straight onto the road, followed by a gang of freshly-respawned enemies on their Hover Fighters who are dead set on retrieving the flag. However, it is around this time that the flagrunner's teammates who perished on the initial assault respawned and drove out of their base to cover the flagunner's escape. Thus, the brunt of both teams clash face-to-face on the highway for the last time to decide the fate of the flag.

The Essence of Vehicular Combat
In all Vehicular Combat modes, players should be encouraged to use vehicles as often as possible. As such, I have come up with the 3 Objectives of Vehicular Combat:

1. The Vehicle Should Be Faster than The Player On-Foot
Vehicles, no matter how slow they are, should still be faster than on-foot players. This gives players a reason to use vehicles to travel large distances and get to the objective as soon as possible. Thus, players will be encouraged to get into a vehicle as soon as they spawn.

2. The Vehicle Should Be Deadlier than The Player On-Foot
No vehicles should have a mode or seat where the player will not be able to shoot anything. In other words, all vehicles; no matter what type it is or how many seats it has; must contain something for the player to attack other players. Furthermore, those vehicles should have more firepower than the players' on-foot arsenal; be it infinite ammo version of an existing weapon or something new altogether that makes it easier to destroy both on-foot players and vehicles. This gives a reason for players to use vehicles to do combat. Thus, players will be encouraged to fight in vehicles over fighting on-foot.

3. The Vehicle Should Be More Durable than The Player On-Foot
Vehicles should be able to take more punishment than on-foot players. Players in vehicles should survive an attack that would normally kill them on-foot. Players should also survive in the event of their vehicles' destruction. This gives a reason for the player to stay in the safety of their vehicles while under fire because it essentially acts as a second life. Thus, players will be encouraged to fight with their vehicles until their vehicles' final moments.

Vehicular Combat (and bots) is the path for Sam's multiplayer to flourish and attract new fans (though bots are a must for lasting appeal). While there are many FPS these days that comes with vehicular combat such as Battlefield and ArmA, only a few are combined with the old-school arcade style of gameplay; the most notable ones being Unreal Tournament 2004 and Tribes 2. Since Serious Sam 2 already contained vehicles, I can only wish that one day it will return to the series along with a new game mode focused on Vehicular Combat.

Also, out of all the vehicles cut from SS2, which one do you guys miss/wish you could ride the most?